Chapter 2
Storm woke up in a cold sweat to the sound of the alarm clock going off, he reached over and deactivated the device. Storm made his way down into the kitchen and made himself a pot of coffee and poured himself a bowl of cereal. He did the dishes, locked the door and flew into the brisk morning air. He looked to the East and saw that the sun was about to rise, he quickened his pace and rocketed towards the weather agency building. Storm stepped inside the cloud building and signed in at the front desk, he glanced at who was on call that day. The usual pegasi; Thunderlane, Wildfire and Rainbow Dash. He noticed that Rainbow was the squad leader for the day, so he waited for her to arrive so he could start his shift. Wildfire and Thunderlane soon reported in and the trio anxiously awaited for their leader to arrive. After what felt like and eternity, Storm glanced at the clock and let out a grunt.
“Alright that’s it! Time to go mare hunting.” Storm said as he got to his hooves.
“What are you complaining for?” Wild fire asked.
“It’s been three bucking hours and I haven’t seen that rainbow maned menace anywhere.” he said as he flew out the door. Thunderlane and Wildfire rolled their eyes and let the stallion did as he wished. Storm was rocketing through the sky at a break neck pace until he came to Sweet Apple Acres. He landed in front of a familiar orange mare. “Hey AJ, have you seen Rainbow?”
“Nope, haven’t since yesterday. Why?” she said as she kicked a tree.
“She’s three hours late for her shift and is holding the rest of us up.” he said in an irritated tone. “Know where she might be?”
“Hmm....ah haven’t the slightest-” she was cut off by the stallion taking flight and rocketing towards the town. Storm peered into the bar he was in last night and saw a rainbow tail sticking out of one of the booths, he galloped inside to see a passed out cyan mare in the booth, he trotted over to her and poured a pitcher of cold water onto her head.
“Wake up!” he barked as the mare shot up in surprise.
“Wha- huh?” she instantly grasped her head in pain.
“Next time you have a hangover the least you could do is-” he then noticed that the tough as nails Pegasus had tears in her eyes. “Rainbow? Are you okay?”
“No!” she said as she broke down and started to cry. Storm put a hoof on the mare’s shoulder trying to comfort her. “My roommate kicked me out last night.” she said through the sobs.
“What? Why?”
“She said that she was tired of living with a dead beat loser and threatened to bash my skull in if I didn’t leave.” Storm then noticed that Dash’s left eye was black and blue, he wrapped a wing around the mare and tried to calm her down.
“Do you have a place to stay? Maybe with Applejack or-”
“NO! They can’t know about this!” she said as she looked at the stallion with tears in her eyes.
“Why?”
“I don’t want to be burden.” she said as snother tear escaped her eye.
“Do you have enough money for a hotel?”
“No.” she said in a defeated tone. Storm scratched his mane and let out a heavy sigh.
“You could....stay with me.”
“No! I told you-”
“It won’t be a burden. You have a job and I’ll keep my mouth shut about it to the others.”
“I-I thought you didn’t like me.” she said in a sad tone.
“You get on my nerves sometimes, but I don’t hate you and I’m willing to help out a friend who’s down on their luck.” Rainbow pondered the idea and breathed a heavy sigh.
“O-okay. Thanks” she said in a weak voice.
“Don’t mention it. Do you have some stuff you want to get?” the mare nodded her head slowly. “Okay, we’ll head there after my shift and pick up a few things. In the mean time I gotta head back to work.” Rainbow’s eyes shrank.
“P-please don’t tell any-pony about-”
“I’ll only say that it’s a personal matter and that I’m not at liberty to discuss it.” she wrapped her hooves around him and brought him into a hug.
“Thank you!” she said in a cheery tone.
“No problem.” he said as he broke the hug. “Where will you be at noon?”
“Um...I guess at the library.”
“Cool. I’ll see you then.” he said as he started to walk away.
“See ya later roomie.” she said with a smile. Storm stopped for a moment, but continued on his way and flew back to his job. As he entered the weather facility, he saw that Thunderlane and Wild fire were still waiting for him.
“Find her?” Thunderlane asked.
“Yeah, she’s having some.....personal issues at the moment.” he said in a flat tone.
“What does that mean?” the cream colored Pegasus asked.
“It means it’s an issue and it’s personal. End of story. I’ll be picking up Rainbow’s slack today.” he said in a harsh tone. The other pegasi rolled their eyes and followed the white stallion to their work zone.
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Rainbow was waiting outside the library for Storm to arrive. As she started to poke the ground with her hoof her mind began to wander.
Where is he?
He’s probably running late. He had the morning shift today, you know how long that takes.
Yeah. I still can’t believe that he offered me a place to crash. I guess he’s not so bad after all.
Is that a tone of affection in your voice?
No way! I barely know the guy.
So what?
So he probably has a mare friend or- she was cut off by a white stallion landing in front of her.
“Sorry I’m late. Had to move a few storm clouds before my shift ended.” he said as he caught his breath.
“It’s fine, I only got here ten minutes ago.” she said with a weak smile.
“All right then, are you okay to fly?”
“Yeah I’m sobered up.”
“Okay, we’ll go get your stuff and then grab some lunch.”
“Sounds good to me.” she said as she took flight. Storm flew after the mare, hoping that she didn’t crash into anything along the way. Rainbow’s mind couldn’t settle down as she approached her former home. Storm’s eyes boggled at the building in front of him, a house made entirely out of white clouds complete with a swimming pool filled with liquified rainbows.
“Oh my Luna.” he said as he looked at the massive house. Rainbow trotted up to the door and gave three hard knocks, a rather large griffin answered the door. Storm had met griffins before but never had a long lasting conversation with one.
“Well, look who’s-”
“Save it. I’m only here for my stuff.” Rainbow said in a cold tone. The two trotted upstairs and entered the first door on the right. The mare opened it and withdrew a few suitcases, Storm looked around the room to see the walls plastered with Wonderbolt posters, he scoffed at the images and began to pile things into the duffle bags. Rainbow joined him and began to shovel her things into the bag. Storm was collecting the mantel pieces when he came across a golden crown with wings on the either side of it. “Hey, careful with that!” she said as she flew over to him and snatched the crown out of his hooves. After they had finished her old room was stripped down to the paint and furniture. Storm had three bags on his back and two in his front hooves.
“Forget anything?” he said in a sarcastic tone.
“No, I’ve got everything I need. Let’s go.” she said in a cold tone. Storm took the lead and led Rainbow to his home. “Why do you live on the ground?” she asked as they stopped in front of his house.
“I just like to I guess.” he said as he opened the door. The cyan mare followed him up stairs and into the guest room. “Okay here you go. I’ll let you get settled and then I’ll give you the tour.”
“Thanks.” she said as he closed the door behind him. Storm trotted down stairs and began to make himself some lunch. He began to boil some water and threw a soup mix into the pot, he sat down at the table and waited for the pot to boil. Storm looked up to see Rainbow trotting toward shim with a smile oh her face. “Hey what’s up?”
“Making some soup. Want some?”
“Sure.” she said as she sat down at the table. “So you live here on your own?”
“Yup.”
“Don’t you get lonely?”
“Not really, I’m not much of a socialite, plus I have my books and work to keep me preoccupied.” he said as he poured the soup into two bowls. “Mind if I ask a question?” the mare nodded. “Do you have a colt-friend? Or...mare-friend?” Rainbow’s face turned red at the question.
“No! Why?”
“Just want to make sure I don’t open a door one day and I see something I can’t UN-see.” he said as he sipped his soup.
“Oh...Well what about you?”
“Nope. I’m taking a break from the dating game for a while.”
“Why?”
“My last relationship ended......poorly.”
“Disaster?” she said as she slurped the liquid.
“More like a bucking cataclysm.” he said in an annoyed tone.
“What happened?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” he said as he finished his soup. Rainbow handed him the bowl and he put them in the sink. “Okay time for the tour, this is the kitchen.” he said with a smirk. Rainbow rolled her eyes and got to her hooves. the two pegasi made there way into the living room that was well furnished with a reclining chair and a leather couch. The television had at least a fifty inch screen. Next to it was a P-Box 720, a Play Pony 4 and a Ninten-pony 64. He trotted over to a cabinet and opened it to see that it was stacked with games and movies. “Feel free to play, just be sure not to erase any of my progress okay.”
“N-no problem. You have a lot of games, didn’t know that you were this big of gamer.” she said in amazement.
“Most of them are left over from when I was a kid.” he said as he looked at the oldest console. He left the room with Rainbow following close behind. He stopped in front of a wooden door. “This is the bathroom, theres another one on the second floor at the end of the hall.” he came to another doorway that led down stairs. He flicked on the light to reveal at least eight different weight machines, a treadmill a small swimming pool complete with a small hot tub on the side. Rainbow’s jaw dropped at the equipment. Storm looked at her and smiled. “Relax, membership included. I’m sure you can figure out how to work most of the machines and the pool is fairly obvious.” he said as he trotted over to the edge. “The water’s kept at room temperature so it should be-” he was cut off by Rainbow pushing the stallion in the water. His head rose from the surface and saw that they cyan mare was laughing at him. “What was that for?”
“Payback for dumping that pitcher of water on me at the bar earlier.” she said with a smile.
“Very funny. Now help me out.” he said as he outstretched his hoof. Rainbow grabbed it only to feel herself being pulled into the water. Storm lifted himself out of the pool and smirked at the cyan mare. “I believe the score stands at two to one.” he said as Rainbow got out of the pool. As she slung her hair back, Storm couldn’t help but look at the mare’s attractive features, Her mane being completely wet and sticking to her well toned body. Storm trotted over to the towel rack and handed one to Rainbow.
“Thanks.”
“No problem.” he said in a flat tone. He turned around and began to dry off, Rainbow glanced over and saw how the water slid off his muscular body. She began to blush as he flicked the remaining water off of his wings. Storm turned his head to see Rainbow staring at him. “What?”
“Nothing...just wondering how you afforded all of this.” she lied.
“I saved up my money over the years and eventually had enough to pay for it.” he said in a flat tone.
“Right.” she said in a sarcastic tone. The two finished drying off and made their way back upstairs. Rainbow then noticed a huge black metal door at the back of the house. “Hey what’s that door to?”
“What door?”
“That big black one.” she said as she pointed to it. Storms eyes shrank at the question.
“Nothing..storage.” he said in a cold tone.
“No way a door like that is just for-” she was cut off by the stallion casting an icy glare at the mare.
“It’s storage. Drop it.” he said ina stern tone. “It’s actually good that you brought that up, time to explain the rules.”
“Rules?” she said in a grumble.
“Yes, rules. One; DO NOT OPEN THAT DOOR. Two; Consult me first if you want to throw a party, I don’t mind if you have a few friends over, but if it's more than seven then that qualifies as a party. Three; If you bring some-pony home with you for some under the covers action then keep it in the bedroom and tie something on the door knob so I know that we have a guest. Four; I’m not your housekeeper, so if you make a mess you clean it up. That includes dishes and clothes, theres a washing machine in the basement opposite the work out room for laundry. Lastly Five; DO NOT OPEN THAT DOOR.” he finished.
“You said that last one twice.”
“That’s because it’s twice as important as all the other rules. Understand?”
“Y-yeah.” she said in a nervous tone.
“I should also mention I have a three strike system.”
“A what?”
“Simply put, break the rules three times and you are O-U-T. OUT. But if you even attempt to break rules one or five I will kick your rainbow flank to the curb faster than you can say ouch. Are we clear?”
“Cr-crystal.” she said as she backed off.
“Good.”
“Do you mind if I hang up some posters?” she asked.
“Of what?”
“Wonderbolts.” Storm’s right eye began to twitch, he cracked his neck and gritted his teeth in frustration.
“As long as it’s in your room then I don’t mind.” he said ina calm voice.
“Why did you just twitch out like that?”
“I don’t like the Wonderbolts.” he said in a flat tone. Rainbow let out an audible gasp and flew in front of the white stallion.
“WHAT!? HOW CAN YOU NOT LIKE THE WONDERBOLTS!? They’re amazing.” she yelled.
“I just don’t like them and I would appreciate it if you would accept my decision.” he said as he tried to side step the mare.
“But still I don’t see-”
“Look Rainbow, Thunderlane hates strawberry’s, Wildfire despises anything that has to do with flowers and I don’t like the Wonderbolts. Every-pony hate’s something. Even you must hate something.” he said as he raised an eyebrow. The cyan mare started to pout. This is getting off to a great start. he thought sarcastically. “But...I like to keep an opened mind, you can try to change my mind, but don’t count on anything ground breaking.” Rainbow’s eyes lit up at the words. “So what should we do?”
“I don’t know...maybe play a game?”
“Sure.” he said as they trotted into the living room and picked up the controllers. “What do you want to play?”
“Um...I guess some Palo.”
“Cool, I just got the new one.” he said as he popped the disk in. The two pegasi sat side by side and began to play. “Let’s go with Campaign first. I’ve been dying to see what happened to the Chief.”
“Fine by me.” the two spent the next few hours running and gunning through the game. When they stopped once they got past the tenth mission. “Wow, did you believe those things!”
“Yeah they were pretty tough.” Rainbow glanced at the clock and her jaw dropped.
“Oh man I was supposed to meet the others at Sugar Cube Corner ten minutes ago.” she then looked at the stallion and bit her lip. “Do you wanna come along?”
“Umm.....sure I guess.”
“Cool. Follow me.” she said as she made her way towards the door. Storm dashed over to the black door and double checked the locks. Rainbow was waiting for him at the door, he walked up next to her and locked the door behind him. “All set?”
“Yeah, let’s go.” he said as the two took flight into the cold night sky. The two flew in silence until they reached the bakery. As they made their way inside they were greeted by five familiar faces.
“Hey Rainbow.” the lavender mare said as she waved her friend over to the table. The two pegasi trotted over and sat down. “Who’s this?” she said as she looked at the white stallion.
“This is Storm Chaser.” she said as she pointed to the stallion.
"How do you two know each other?" the lavender unicorn asked.
“I’m on the weather team and Rainbow offered that I tag along with her. ” he said as he gave a nod at the cyan mare.
“Well that’s awfully nice of you.” the white mare said in a cheery tone.
“Storm this is Rarity, Twilight, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy.” the mares smiled as he gave them a nod.
“Sup AJ?” he said as he looked at the orange mare.
“Nothing much...Oh that reminds me, where were you today Rainbow?”
"What?”
“Storm here came to farm looking for you this morning. He said something about you being three hours late for work.” Rainbow’s eyes shrank as she tried to come up with an excuse.
“Oh that. Turns out some idiot on the weather team accidentally put Rainbow’s name on the list for this mornings patrol.” Storm lied. Applejack’s eyes narrowed and glared at the pegasi. The orange mare then noticed Rainbow’s black eye.
“What happened to your eye sugar cube?”
“Oh this? I...walked into a door walking out of my house this morning.” she lied.
“Okay...ah understand.”
“So Storm, what do you do for the weather patrol?” Twilight asked.
“I mostly handle inclement weather.”
“Huh?” AJ said.
“Thunderstorms.” he deadpanned.
“Oh.”
“Sounds dangerous.” Rarity added.
“Nah, it’s not so bad. Thunderclouds are really comfortable to sleep on.” Twilight raised an eyebrow.
“Sleeping on a thundercloud? Won’t you get shocked?”
“Yeah, but the electricity help relieve a lot of tension in the muscles.” he said with a grin. “My bed back home is a thundercloud.”
“Really?” Rainbow said in surprise. The stallion nodded and the group continued to talk, Storm didn’t pay much attention to their conversation. He’d chime in once in a while but he mostly kept his mouth shut. Soon it was time to leave and the two pegasi departed. As soon as they were out of earshot Applejack had a quizzical look on her face.
“Something wrong dear?” Rarity asked.
“Yeah. Rainbow seems to be spending a lot of time with Storm recently.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well they work together, they helped me with some apple bucking yesterday and they arrived together when they came here.” she said as she turned her head towards the exit.
“You think she’s interested in him?” Twilight asked.
“Maybe...ah don’t know.” she said as she bit her lower lip.
“Well let’s see how things play out.” Rarity suggested.
“Good idea.” Twilight said as she looked back at her friends.
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Back at Storm and Rainbow’s home the the two pegasi entered the quiet house and trotted upstairs.
“Hey thanks for covering for me back there.” Rainbow said.
“No problem, I said that I wouldn’t tell them and I meant it.” he said as he reached the top of the stairs.
“Well....goodnight.”
“Night. See you tomorrow.” he said as he entered his room. Storm set his alarm and crawled into bed. He gave a long yawn and closed his eyes fro some well deserved sleep.